Perplexity Search

Citation-backed web answers and deep research reports for autonomous agents. Four tiers of Perplexity Sonar — fast answers, synthesis, multi-step reasoning, and exhaustive deep research — all through one AIsa API key.

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Citation-backed web answers and deep research for autonomous agents. Access the full Perplexity Sonar family with one AISA_API_KEY — from sub-second lookups to exhaustive research reports.

Install

aisa skills install perplexity-search

What can agents do with it?

Fast factual answers

“What shipped in OpenAI’s latest release?” — answered in seconds with citations.

Comparative analysis

“Compare the top three AI coding agents in 2026 across pricing and features.”

Multi-step reasoning

“Walk through the tradeoffs of using x402 vs. traditional API keys.”

Deep research reports

“Generate a 2,000-word structured report on agentic browser frameworks.”

Real-time news

“Summarize this week’s AI infrastructure announcements.”

Decision support

“Should we adopt this library? Cite adoption, issues, and alternatives.”

Model tiers

Model	Use when you need…
sonar	Fast, cited answers to simple questions (sub-second)
sonar-pro	Synthesis, comparisons, longer answers with more sources
sonar-reasoning-pro	Multi-step analytical reasoning, tradeoff analysis, technical deep-dives
sonar-deep-research	Exhaustive long-form reports; accepts multi-minute processing

Quick start

export AISA_API_KEY="your-key"

Sonar (fast answers)

curl -X POST "https://api.aisa.one/apis/v1/perplexity/sonar" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $AISA_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "model": "sonar",
    "messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "What is the Model Context Protocol?"}]
  }'

Sonar Pro (synthesis)

curl -X POST "https://api.aisa.one/apis/v1/perplexity/sonar-pro" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $AISA_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "model": "sonar-pro",
    "messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "Compare the performance of top AI coding agents in 2026."}]
  }'

Sonar Reasoning Pro (analysis)

curl -X POST "https://api.aisa.one/apis/v1/perplexity/sonar-reasoning-pro" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $AISA_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "model": "sonar-reasoning-pro",
    "messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "Analyze the tradeoffs of adopting x402 vs. traditional billing."}]
  }'

Sonar Deep Research

curl -X POST "https://api.aisa.one/apis/v1/perplexity/sonar-deep-research" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $AISA_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "model": "sonar-deep-research",
    "messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "Create a 2,000-word deep research report on autonomous browser agents."}]
  }'

Deep research accepts longer processing times and the Python client implements automatic retry logic. For time-sensitive requests, downgrade to sonar-pro or sonar-reasoning-pro rather than waiting for a long timeout.

Python client

# Fast
python3 scripts/perplexity_search_client.py sonar --query "What is MCP?"

# Synthesis
python3 scripts/perplexity_search_client.py sonar-pro --query "Compare AI coding agents 2026"

# Analytical reasoning
python3 scripts/perplexity_search_client.py sonar-reasoning-pro --query "x402 tradeoffs"

# Deep research (accepts long processing)
python3 scripts/perplexity_search_client.py sonar-deep-research --query "Agentic payments landscape"

# Optional system message to control output formatting
python3 scripts/perplexity_search_client.py sonar-pro \
  --query "Explain RAG" \
  --system "Answer in bullet points with citations inline as [1], [2]..."

Endpoint reference

Endpoint	Method	Purpose
/perplexity/sonar	POST	Sonar — fast answers
/perplexity/sonar-pro	POST	Sonar Pro — synthesis
/perplexity/sonar-reasoning-pro	POST	Sonar Reasoning Pro
/perplexity/sonar-deep-research	POST	Sonar Deep Research

Get started

1. Sign up at aisa.one (new accounts start with $2 free credit).
2. Generate an API key from the console.
3. export AISA_API_KEY="your-key" and install the skill:
   aisa skills install perplexity-search
   

Related

Perplexity API reference

All four Sonar endpoints with interactive playgrounds.

Pricing

Per-token rates for each Sonar variant.

Error Codes

Handling timeouts and upstream errors.